Review JN001: Pikachu is Born!

[HeHeItsIshrak]

So they created an entire episode just for the “Here’s PIKACHU’s BACKSTORY AGFTER 23 YEARS” clickbait articles... and didn’t even address the stuff a backstory should’ve?

Well, Pikachu Is Born, done deal. The more time passes, the more I feel that they just care about clickbait crap.
Won't be surprised if Kalos was brought up and Goodra and Greninja were outright ignored.
Anyone remember Primeape?? No Pidgeot, that mon was shit.

 

[Jez]

If anything I find it funny that Jessie/James got a Garchomp before Ash, assuming the Garchomp we saw fighting alongside Corviknight is also theirs.

They are the Pokémon of other trainers Jessie and James are not in the cast of the episode 2

 

[Kairyu]

This new composer is utter trash. Sounds like freaking dub music. Why'd they get rid of Miyazaki again?

Animation was splendid and the characters were great, the plot a bit boring but whatever. If the music doesn't improve then I'll be hesistant to continue watching this.

 

[L-05308]

If anything I find it funny that Jessie/James got a Garchomp before Ash, assuming the Garchomp we saw fighting alongside Corviknight is also theirs.

wait a minute, when we’re Team Rocket shown with these Pokémon?

 

[Jez]

wait a minute, when we’re Team Rocket shown with these Pokémon?

Jessie and James are not in this episode and episode 2 and these are Pokémon of a fight with others trainers in the episode 2

 

[KrspaceT]

So did this episode actually reveal anything interesting about our Pika-pal other than make us wonder if Ash had a tendency to repeat similar plots a la a Star Wars story (Episode 7 was hardly the first to have another Imperial super weapon needing to be blown up) even before he left Pallet Town and got stuck in that time sneeze of his.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

This episode answered only one of dozens of questions about Pikachu (how he evolved), and yet raised a new one: what the hell happened to his family?

In other words, this backstory episode left us with the exact same number of doubts as when it began. I don’t think the writers understand the point of a backstory, cute as it was...

 

[BigDocFan]

It was certainly great seeing Pokemon like Kakuna, Koffing and we haven't seen them in a while

 

[RetroPokeFan]

Good start to the series but I'm kind of disappointed that this episode didn't tell us the bigger parts of Pikachu's backstory. So much potential stuff could have been done here but I suppose they had to find a way to introduce us to Go and Koharu.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Crazy to think that the Mew that appeared in SM42 at Oak's lab was just a giant teaser for this series. This was also around the time that the new series logo debuted, first used in M20. I wonder if the scrapped movie idea for M20 where Ash goes on an adventure with his past companions was somehow morphed into what this series became. I can imagine them kicking themselves after coming up with the idea for this series but being forced to continue SM for two more years because they had already started. This series clearly would have been right at home during the 20th anniversary hype.

 

[Lanstar]

For those of you who don't think this episode doesn't explain why pikachu hates being sent into its Poke Ball:

It does - And the reasoning is pretty complex.

For one, Pichu was shackled a lot being stuck in Kangaskan's Pouch. Yes, he was protected by all the dangers of other wild pokemon, and was cared for a lot. Kangaskan is a pokemon known for being hyperpotective of her young, so her 'Pouch' functions a lot like Pokeball - which does protect a pokemon from the outside world. But Pichu just couldn't get used to it at all, however well taken care of he got.

Then came the incident of the Baby Kangaskan getting lost, due to the curiousity of seeing Mew. While Mew rescued the baby, Pichu felt like he took the blame for the problem. He may have felt that as long as he was stuck in Kangaskan's pouch, he could not grow nor protect his friends. If a pokemon is stuck in its Pokeball, it can't do anything to help, no?

Thus he realized that for the love of the Kangaskan he had to leave them for his own independence, which from happiness made him evolve.

Once you compare the Pouch and the Pokeball, the reason pikachu dislikes being in a Pokeball makes more sense.

 

[FinnishPokéFan92]

Crazy to think that the Mew that appeared in SM42 at Oak's lab was just a giant teaser for this series.

Not necessarily.

 

[Emelie]

Cute episode but maybe it would have been better to focus only on Pikachu and then give Gou's backstory its own episode?

There is also not much countinuity here since there is a Pokémon Camp but there is no Serena or Shigeru so there is a lot of missed potential.

I think it would have been better to have Satoshi and Gou chase after Mew together instead of Koharu. Then they could have had some sort of friendly rivalry and build upon that when they meet again in the second episode. Koharu doesn't seem to really care about Mew or adventures in general so her presence in this episode felt somewhat unnecessary. I hope her role won't just be to be "the girl" in the new anime.

Pikachu's backstory also contradicts the old backstory from Shudo's light novel in which Pikachu was bred and raised by Professor Oak. I guess that means the light novel isn't canon anymore which is a shame because I personally really like it even if it's old and obscure. It also creates a plot hole since it doesn't explain how Pikachu ended up with Oak. Unless Pikachu/Pichu ran away from Oak and then ended up meeting Kangaskhan?

 

[BigDocFan]

Feels strange that we're now in Gen 8 yet not a single Pokemon from Galar appeared in this episode

 

[DynamicFusion]

Feels strange that we're now in Gen 8 yet not a single Pokemon from Galar appeared in this episode

We'll be getting Corviknight next episode so that's a good sign.

 

[BigDocFan]

We'll be getting Corviknight next episode so that's a good sign.

True and using Corviknight in the games, I can't wait to see it in the anime

 

[BraixenFennekin]

The premiere episode for the new series is awesome. Now it reminds me of my childhood. It is how Pichu evolved into Pikachu 4 years earlier.
And Kangaskhan with the baby played with Baby Pokémon Pichu before evolving.
I give this episode an A.

 

[Panky..]

Crazy to think that the Mew that appeared in SM42 at Oak's lab was just a giant teaser for this series. This was also around the time that the new series logo debuted, first used in M20. I wonder if the scrapped movie idea for M20 where Ash goes on an adventure with his past companions was somehow morphed into what this series became. I can imagine them kicking themselves after coming up with the idea for this series but being forced to continue SM for two more years because they had already started. This series clearly would have been right at home during the 20th anniversary hype.

Wow, I decided to rewatch SM042 and now my mind is blown.

On the latter topic, yeah it does seem like they might be trying that. The scrapped idea wouldn't have really worked well for a movie given the short runtime. You can't really fit in a dozen people in a 2 hour average flick and expect every person to get shine, so a full series is what would work best.

There is also not much countinuity here since there is a Pokémon Camp but there is no Serena or Shigeru so there is a lot of missed potential.

Or maybe it's not the same event at all. I mean, Ash completely missed out on attending so it has to be a different "camp". And speaking of that topic, it didn't even feel like a Summer camp, more along the lines of a Field trip/expedition than the former.

 

[BigDocFan]

I've having trouble telling if most of the episode was set at Oak's lab, the Safari Zone or somewhere else

Safari Zone was my first thought but seems unlikely

 

[Emelie]

I just realized that the scene when Pichu evolved might be a reference to the scene with Caterpie when they are looking at the moon. Maybe Pikachu was trying to reassure Caterpie that evolution wasn't a scary experience?

Although that also makes the whole thing with Pikachu being scared of evolving into a Raichu a little ironic? I guess Raichu really messed poor Pikachu up...